100+ Fundraising Event Ideas for Nonprofits: Best Fundraising Ideas to Raise Revenue at Your Next Charity Fundraiser

Hosting successful fundraising events for your nonprofit or charity is vital to maintain your programs. Although the types of fundraising campaigns you can put on today keeps expanding thanks to online platforms like PayBee and advances in fundraising software, only you can decide what types of activities appeal most to your support network.

To keep your fundraising events effective, we’ve created a list of 100 fundraising event ideas grouped around different nonprofit organizations and charity activities. From fundraisers designed specifically for school organizations to fundraising events you can hold completely online, you’ll find everything here from favorite classics to cutting-edge events you haven’t even considered.

Just click on the links below to jump directly into the category that fits your nonprofit or charity niche. Have fun and we hope this list helps guide you to finding the perfect fundraising event idea for your organization!

Best Fundraising Event Ideas for Schools and Colleges

1. School Carnival

Whether you’re raising money for the Parent Teacher Organization, extracurricular activities, or other school programs involving in event fundraising, a school carnival is one fundraising activity that never fails to attract a crowd. Assign favorite attractions and activities to groups that will relish getting involved. The Drama Club would probably love producing a Haunted House. Student ambassadors will be a great choice to run the games. And the baking and cooking enthusiasts in your classes will add something special to the concessions.

• Planning: Form a committee to oversee different aspects: activities, food, logistics, and sponsorships.
• Activities: Choose games and attractions suitable for all ages. Consider renting equipment if necessary.
• Volunteers: Recruit volunteers to man booths, sell tickets, and ensure the event runs smoothly.
• Promotion: Use social media, flyers, and community bulletin boards to advertise the event.
• Fundraising: Besides ticket sales, include a raffle or silent auction. Reach out to local businesses for donations or sponsorships.

Real-World Example: P.S. 10 in Brooklyn, New York, holds an annual P.S. 10 Spring Carnival. They feature games, crafts, and food, with each booth run by volunteer parents and students. The funds raised go towards supporting school programs and facilities upgrades. This event has consistently been a significant revenue generator for the school, fostering community engagement and school spirit.

This is an all-time favorite fundraising event that appeals to a wide audience, including families and the community at large. To enhance this event, consider incorporating current trends like eco-friendly games or educational booths that align with societal issues or curricular learning. Incorporating technology, such as QR codes for payments or a digital map of the carnival, can streamline the experience.

Keep in mind that although gathering restrictions have been lifted, social distancing requirements may still apply to your school or educational institution. Follow all necessary guidelines but offer plenty of opportunities to have fun! After being denied a chance to get together with friends, people will probably flock to your carnival!

2.     Reading Challenge

“Read-a-thon” competitions allow students of all grade levels to collect pledges from supporters who will donate based on the number of books they can read within a set period. Your school can add extra incentive by offering prizes for students who meet (or exceed) certain reading goals and can even design competitions between classes or grades. This is a great way to raise money while also raising literacy! Supporters can include not only family and friends, but also local businesses or community members who are passionate about education and supporting young readers.

This event not only raises funds but also promotes literacy. To expand on this, you could partner with local authors for readings or discussions, making the event both educational and charitable. Adding an online component where participants can track their reading progress and collect pledges in real-time can also increase engagement.

3.     Used Textbook Sale

This fundraising activity works really well in colleges and universities (although high schools and trade schools can also benefit from them). With so many students looking for ways to buy more affordable textbooks for the upcoming semester, getting students to donate their gently used textbooks to your organization will allow you to sell them to incoming students at a reduced price.

Even better, you can expand your textbook sale to offer books in all subject areas, from popular novels to cookbooks to travel guides. Make sure to promote your upcoming book sale on social media and post notices at places where book lovers frequent (like public libraries and used bookstores).

Finally, using an online price comparison website like Bookscouter can help you sell off the remainder of your book stock for decent prices. Alternatively, you can donate any books you can’t sell to libraries or used bookstores, building partnerships with them.

4.     Parents’ Party

One thing all good fundraisers do is recognize people who have supported an organization throughout the year. And what better way to recognize the hardworking parents of the PTO than to throw them a fun day (or night) of their own? Depending on the parents’ interests, you might offer virtual or in-person cooking classes, a casino night, or even a virtual happy hour. Just make sure to offer activities everyone can get into (you are going to be selling tickets to them, after all).

Pro tip: arrange to have supervised activities for the kids (this can be done through virtual games or in-person events) so parents can relax and enjoy their party.

5.     Goofy Principal Challenge

Here’s a fun activity that can be supported by your fundraising website — the goofy principal challenge allows people to donate online to your fundraiser over a period of several hours or days.

• Idea Generation: Have a brainstorming session with staff and students for challenge ideas.
• Voting: Let the school community vote on their favorite challenge, increasing buy-in.
• Fundraising Goal: Set a clear financial goal that, if met, will result in the principal undertaking the challenge.
• Documentation: Ensure the challenge is recorded or streamed live for maximum engagement.
• Participation: Involve the students in the fundraising process, perhaps with mini-challenges leading up to the main event.

Case Study: A middle school in Michigan set up a Goofy Principal Challenge where if students reached their fundraising goals, the principal agreed to camp on the school's roof for a night. This fun incentive motivated students to participate and helped the school surpass its fundraising target.

As your site’s virtual thermometer reaches its fundraising goal, your normally strait-laced principal will perform a silly (but safe) activity for the students and faculty — like dying their hair, getting hit by a pie, or getting dunked into a tank. Who wouldn’t want to see the principal perform such goofy antics (especially if they get recorded for posterity?).

6.     Prom Dress Drive

Prom is considered a rite of passage for many high school students, but unfortunately, not everyone can afford all the accessories to have a memorable prom night. That’s why prom dress drives are great events to host for building stronger bonds among community members.

In addition to dresses, your drive can take in handbags, shoes, accessories, and other donations. Be sure to build a fundraising website to help direct people to donation areas, collect any monetary donations, and match all donations to the proper recipients.

7.     Selling Yearbook Ad Space

Fundraising websites offer great places for sponsors to advertise their businesses, but high schools actually have another ready-made place to sell ad space — the annual yearbook! Plenty of local businesses and companies will be happy to donate money to your school in exchange for an eye-catching ad in the junior high or high school annual. Considering how many parents, staff, and students look through the pages during the final days of school, it’s a great way to showcase a business!  In addition, alumni and other supporters of the school may also be interested in purchasing ad space to show their support and promote their own businesses, making the yearbook a valuable platform for both fundraising and community engagement.

8.     Business Fair

Business fairs are excellent fundraising events to hold for your high school or college since so many of your students will be looking for job hunting resources and opportunities to gain real-world business experience. You’ll be able to form partnerships with local businesses and community organizations, many of which will probably want to sponsor your event in exchange for promotional opportunities and a chance to recruit a new generation of talent.

You’ll also be able to hold multiple fundraising activities during your business fair, such as raffles, auctions, and paid seminars with known business experts. As demand for well-paying jobs increases, a good business fair will continue attracting plenty of interest.

Virtual Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofits

1.     Virtual Auctions

Whether you’re thinking of hosting a live auction complete with a professional auctioneer who can get bidders pumped up through a live stream broadcast or a silent auction that can start earning money days before your fundraiser begins, virtual auctions are some of the most profitable fundraising activities you can offer.

• Platform Selection: Choose an online auction platform and set up your event page with a clear description and goals.
• Item Procurement: Solicit donations of goods and services from businesses and community members.
• Cataloging: List items with appealing descriptions and photos. Include starting bids and value estimates.
• Promotion: Market the auction through email campaigns, social media, and the organization’s website.
• Execution: Monitor the auction, engage with participants, and ensure technical support is available.

Case Study: The American Heart Association's "Heart Ball" went virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic. They used an online auction platform to host their event, which included silent auctions, live auctions, and direct appeals for donations. They managed to raise over $1 million, demonstrating the potential of virtual events to reach wider audiences.

Given the shift towards digital platforms, virtual auctions are increasingly popular. These can be expanded by using high-quality streaming services, interactive bidding platforms, and by sourcing a wide range of items for auction that cater to diverse interests.

Be sure to use a reliable and user-friendly online platform like PayBee (which specializes in hosting virtual auctions) to build your auction campaign. You’ll also want to invest plenty of time in brainstorming the types of auction items that will attract the most bids from your guests (hint: some of the most popular auction items don’t cost a lot of money—and can actually be acquired for free!)

2.     Video Game Tournaments

Plenty of people love video games, but did you know playing video games can actually raise thousands of dollars (and in some cases millions) at fundraisers?

It’s true! People call this “Geek Philanthropy,” and it’s an innovative form of virtual fundraising that takes advantage of the large online followings popular gamers have to collect donations and pledges for watching gameplay. Alternatively, some video game tournaments sell tickets to players and let them participate in fun competitions to win prizes.

The nice thing about this virtual fundraiser is that it can be applied to any charity or nonprofit program. In the past, hospitals, research facilities, wildlife conservation groups, and more have raised tremendous amounts of money thanks to the efforts of hard-working gamers everywhere!  

3.     Text-to-Give Fundraising

Text-to-Give is one of the most effective fundraising campaigns thanks to how easy it is to just donate using your smartphone.

• Service Setup: Partner with a text-to-give service provider and set up a dedicated number and keyword.
• Marketing: Launch the campaign with clear instructions on how to donate via text.
• Engagement: Update supporters on the progress and impact of their donations.
• Gratitude: Send thank-you messages and receipts to donors.
• Follow-Up: Use the momentum to share upcoming events or further calls to action.

Real-World Example: After Hurricane Harvey, the American Red Cross launched a text-to-give campaign that allowed people to donate $10 by texting HARVEY to 90999. This campaign was widely publicized and made donating easy for those who wanted to help, leading to substantial contributions towards relief efforts.

To create this fundraising campaign, use a text-to-give phone number that your supporters can access by texting a keyword like “Donate” and filling out an online donation form.

Alternatively, you can just text a dedicated URL to your campaign page to your guests. Studies actually show that the average donation size for text-to-donate fundraisers is $107, so this could be a very lucrative way to raise money for your nonprofit programs.

4.     TikTok Fundraising Challenges

Filming and sharing short TikTok videos is a popular activity today, and many nonprofits and charities are taking advantage of this by turning TikTok videos into a fundraising challenge. You can invite your volunteers and staff members to create silly videos of themselves dancing, telling jokes, or goofing off. Then, you can link each video to a fundraising page where viewers can donate money to their favorite video. Participants can also win prizes for highest earning video, most likes, best comments etc.

5.     Crowdfunding Campaigns

Create a crowdfunding campaign that shows real-time updates on your online fundraising webpage. You might want to showcase a fundraising thermometer that fills up as more people donate. You can also share photos and videos of your participants’ progress in whatever fundraising activity you choose to host. Whatever you choose to do, make sure to share your crowdfunding webpage on social media and encourage others to promote it.

6.     Virtual Celebrity Encounter

Hiring a celebrity to appear at your fundraiser may have been expensive at one point in time. But thanks to online platforms and live streaming technology, it’s actually really easy to reach out to your favorite movie star or TV personality and see if they can offer a few moments of their time for your fundraising event—without having to leave the comfort of their home!

Since these virtual celebrity encounters don’t require your guest to physically travel or stay at a hotel, you’ll be spared the cost of these expenses. Plus, many people find that interacting with celebrities over a shared Zoom call or online platform actually makes the whole experience feel even more intimate than watching your guest perform from a stage.

7.     Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Here’s a great form of multi-tier fundraising that’s particularly easy to do using PayBee software. Peer-to-peer fundraising allows individuals from your staff and volunteer base to build personal fundraising web pages to help raise money for your nonprofit or charity. Each volunteer or staff member then promotes their page among their social circles (family, friends, community members etc.).

• Platform Setup: Select a peer-to-peer fundraising platform and create your event page.
• Recruitment: Encourage supporters to set up their individual fundraising pages linked to your cause.
• Resources: Provide fundraisers with tips and materials to share their pages effectively.
• Motivation: Keep participants engaged with regular updates, incentives, and public acknowledgments.
• Appreciation: Thank every participant and donor, sharing the success stories and outcomes.

Case Study: The ALS Association's Ice Bucket Challenge is a renowned example of peer-to-peer fundraising. Individuals filmed themselves dumping ice water on their heads and challenged others to do the same or donate to ALS research. This campaign went viral on social media, raising awareness and over $115 million for ALS research.

This strategy leverages the networks of an organization's supporters. Expanding on this could involve creating a challenge or competition element where individuals or teams compete to raise the most funds, possibly pairing this with a social media challenge to increase visibility.

This is an excellent way to expand your donor pool, reach out to potential new supporters, and increase brand awareness of your nonprofit and its mission.

8.     Webinars

Similar to virtual celebrity encounters, webinars allow known experts in a field to share their knowledge in an online setting. This could be a great way to attract a lot of guests to your virtual fundraiser, especially if you choose someone who appeals to the interests of your target audience.

Consider who your supporters and donors would love to listen to. A local business leader? A famous entrepreneur? Even guest speakers like video game designers or entertainment lawyers can hold a webinar — and answer questions thanks to livestreaming technology.

Top Fundraising Ideas for Sports Lovers

1.     Obstacle Course

Do most of your guests relish a challenge? An obstacle course event for your fundraiser is a great way to keep everyone engaged. You’ll have lots of opportunities to take photos that can be shared on social media. And all those endorphins racing through everyone’s bodies will generate a lot of positive feelings — which could put your supporters in a more generous mood when it comes time to donate!

If you have access to a gymnasium or outside venue, there are plenty of great obstacles to set up for your guests. Popular choices include:

• Bag races
• Rope climbing
• Mud pits
• Beam walking

2.     Fun Runs/Walks/Marathons/Triathlons

Charity walks are always good for morale and socializing. Of course, if your guests really want to push themselves, you can expand this event into a fun run, marathon, or even triathlon. While most people would probably prefer to hold this event outside in a natural setting, you do have the option of hosting a virtual fun run where participants keep track of the miles they walk or run and then upload this information onto your event website to compete with other guests.

• Planning: Select a date and secure a venue. Obtain necessary permits and insurance.
• Registration: Set up an online registration process. Offer early bird rates to encourage sign-ups.
• Sponsorships: Reach out to businesses for financial support or in-kind donations for race day.
• Logistics: Organize volunteers for the day of the event, plan the route, and arrange for necessary equipment and amenities.
• Celebration: Plan post-event activities to thank participants and celebrate the community’s efforts.

Real-World Example: The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure series is one of the world’s largest and most successful education and fundraising events for breast cancer. This event series includes 5K runs and fitness walks to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research, celebrating survivors and honoring those who have lost their battle with the disease.

These events are popular for promoting health and wellness alongside fundraising. To make them more appealing, consider adding themed runs, such as costume runs or obstacle courses, to attract different demographics.

One nice thing about this option is that you can get people from all across the country — or even different parts of the world — to participate. Participants can also share photos and videos of their run via social media, which can be nice if they get to do their leg of the race in an attractive setting.

3.     Golf Tournaments

Charity events and golf tournaments are two things that go together like bacon and eggs. Maybe it’s because, in addition to being a very popular sport, there are so many ways to collect revenue during these events. You’ll be able to collect entrance fees from the participants, sell tickets to spectators, and offer additional opportunities to make pledges or donations throughout the tournament. You can even hold an auction or raffle during the event to keep the activity level up.

Some popular golf fundraisers bring on an established golf professional to share pro tips with participants and even take part in a round of golf. If you have a lot of golf enthusiasts in your support network, this is one fundraising event they can all get behind!

4.     Boat Racing

This one is best suited for nonprofits or charities located near a lake or the coast. Boat racing is a fun activity for both the participants and spectators. Plus, you’ll have opportunities for many other fundraising activities like charity picnics, auctions, raffles, and games, improving your chances of raising more revenue.

5.     Dance Parties

Ready to do some serious cardio? Dance parties attract both fitness enthusiasts and people who love a fun night out. You can create a theme for your party (i.e., 80s music dance party), offer fun group dance lessons, or make it into more of a social mixer depending on your audience’s interests.

Be sure to reserve an event venue capable of accommodating all of your guests. If you choose to host a hybrid dance party (where some of the dancers stay home and participate via live streaming), you should be able to save some money by renting a smaller venue and dealing with only a limited number of in-person guests.  

6.     Hiking Party

Know some great hiking trails in your area? Why not organize a hiking party for your nature-loving supporters complete with meals and experienced guides? Hiking parties are fun fundraising events that yield plenty of beautiful photos and videos that look great on social media.

Of course, today you can also offer “virtual hiking” fundraisers where participants don’t even have to leave their homes — they just walk on a treadmill while watching a hiking video on YouTube and chatting with fellow hikers via live stream channels on your online platform. Everyone will still get plenty of exercise and a chance to socialize with friends. To increase participation and reach a wider audience, consider partnering with local outdoor gear stores or wellness studios that can help promote the event and attract even more supporters.

7.     Fitness Class

With so many fitness enthusiasts in your group, there are bound to be some athletes qualified to teach a fitness class during your fundraising event. Your class can be anything from yoga lessons to aerobics activities to weightlifting. You can even offer your class online via live streaming to reach participants at home and collect a small entry fee from each person via your ticketing campaign.

8.     Water Balloon Fight

Not all sports-themed fundraising activities need to be built around serious fitness competitions. Sometimes, an old-fashioned water-balloon fight is just the thing you need to attract a lot of people eager to participate in this kid-friendly activity.

You’ll need to mobilize your volunteers to purchase and fill a couple hundred balloons with water and then store them in large containers. Each balloon could then go for $1 or $2 (be sure to offer group discounts for teams who want to really go wild).

These water balloon fights are best done on a warm day at a park or other outdoor location with plenty of space. Be sure to promote your event well in advance on social media — if you make it one of your summer activities, it’s bound to be one of your supporters’ favorites!

Tailoring sports events like mini-golf tournaments or sports memorabilia auctions can attract a specific audience. Expanding these events might involve creating a sports festival with multiple activities and challenges that cater to different athletic interests.

Quick and Easy Fundraising Ideas for Kids

1.     Car Wash

Here’s one fundraising activity that never gets old. Charity car washes are held by community centers, high schools, churches and local clubs looking to raise some revenue. To host one of these events, find a large parking lot that cars can easily pull into from the main road or an intersection. Train your volunteers in the proper way to wash cars, especially if they’re using hand-washing techniques.

Naturally, you’ll want to follow any local laws for putting on a charity car wash, particularly city/county environment laws concerning drainage. And be sure to gather plenty of towels, sponges, buckets, brushes, hoses, and environmentally-friendly cleaning products like soap, wax, and window cleaner.  

2.     Dog Wash Party

People love their pets. Having to wash them every few days? Not so much. Still, this sort of activity can be a lot of fun for kids, especially if you turn it into a big party that helps raise money for your organization.

Successful dog wash parties should be held during warmer months to keep both your volunteers and the pets comfortable. You’ll also need to arrange to have an event venue that’s convenient for pet owners — like the parking lot of a pet store or pet supply shop (which also provides you with a good way to promote your upcoming event). Oh, and make sure the kids who volunteer for this activity are experienced in washing dogs and keeping them calm during their baths!

3.     Dog Walk-a-Thons

Dog walk-a-thons are excellent activities to offer in tandem with your dog wash party. Partner with a local dog park to give kids a chance to walk, play, and exercise with dogs. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to take heartwarming and hilarious photos and videos to promote your events on social media.

4.     Neighborhood Chores

Considering a lot of kids often try to get out of doing their chores, doing neighborhood chores might seem an odd choice for a children’s fundraiser. Still, when they know they’re out there to help the community and raise money for their organization, you’d be surprised by how civic-minded kids can get.

Find a good way to organize your chore assignments. For instance, you can auction off services like yard cleaning, closet organizing, or lawn mowing during your live charity auctions. Each winner can then fill out a work order indicating where your teams need to go, what jobs they’ll be taking on, and what materials they’ll need to bring with them.

5.     Brand Design Contest

Every charity or nonprofit organization needs effective branding logos — so why not get kids involved by having them design new artwork for your T-shirts, signs, or even website? You can charge a small entry fee for each design — and visitors to your website can then vote on their favorite logos (just be sure to also include plenty of opportunities to visit your donation page). Once you decide on a winner, the new logo can be used to sell more merchandise at your next fundraising event.  

6. Concession Stand

While the image of children selling lemonade on a hot summer’s day has become somewhat of a cliché, the fact is concession stands are a mainstay at virtually all outdoor events. This makes them a prime opportunity for kids to get involved in your fundraising efforts.

Plan to offer several snacks and drinks (not just lemonade!) at your sports events, carnivals, and even car washes. Running concession stands (with some adult supervision) gives kids a great way to learn about money management, customer service, and handling crowds — all excellent skills to develop in your volunteers.

7.     Art Auction

Both schools and nonprofits that encourage children to express themselves through art can benefit from art auction fundraisers. From paintings to photographs to multimedia collages, kids can produce some stunning pieces that make excellent items for your live or silent auction.

For best results, make sure to include high resolution photographs of each piece on your silent auction website along with a brief description of each piece (including what motivated the artist to create it). Some organizations also auction off prints of the original artwork if the original piece is unavailable.

8. Bake Sales

Much like concession stands, a bake sale is a popular fundraising activity that has generated plenty of revenue for schools, churches, and community organizations. If the kids in your organization know how to get around a kitchen, they can bake cakes, cookies, pies, and other baked goods for your event. You can also arrange to have kids help sell the goods during your event, school lunch periods, or recess.

Holiday Fundraising Ideas

1.     Toy Drive

A classic activity to hold in November or December, toy drives offer a great way for community members and local businesses to repurpose their unused toys and make sure children in their area have gifts for the holiday season.

To make sure your toy drive attracts a lot of attention, promote it on your website, advertise it in your e-newsletter, and share photos and videos of your event in your social media feeds. Be sure to include toy wish lists and drop off locations. And make sure your fundraising website includes donation opportunities for people who don’t have toys to give but would like to support your event.

2. Haunted House

Autumn is the ideal time to hold Halloween-themed events like costume contests, but a haunted house can be held during other themed galas and makes a fun addition to charity carnivals. Your volunteers will enjoy getting to be “scare actors” for a few nights and offer guests a few fun thrills.

Be sure to research proper haunted house guidelines when you’re preparing your event. Scare actors are generally forbidden from touching guests in haunted houses and you’ll need to make sure your event venue doesn’t get too crowded and keep people from moving through your attraction. Most importantly, make sure every volunteer carries at least a gallon of water with them to stay hydrated — these events can get pretty taxing for your workers after a few hours.

3.     Santa Meet-and-Greet

Here’s a fun fundraising activity for the cosplayers in your staff — offering meet-and-greets or photo opportunities with Santa Claus is the perfect way to liven up any holiday party or gathering. You can promote a Santa appearance at an upcoming holiday party (drawing in more donors for your fundraising activities).

Or, if you want to get really creative, you can offer a Santa visit as one of the items up for bid in your live or silent auction. Plenty of families would love for Santa to show up at their home on Christmas day (with a bag full of donated gifts!) and greet their children.

4.     Holiday-Themed Luncheon

Luncheons and dinners are a staple in fundraising events — but the holidays offer a chance to make them extra special. Offer a Thanksgiving dinner or an early Christmas Eve supper for your supporters. You can even offer this event multiple times in the year — plenty of people will want to participate in an Easter charity brunch (complete with an Easter egg hunt for the kids), a Fourth of July picnic, a New Years Eve cocktail party — the possibilities are endless!

5.     Food Drive

While food drives are great events to hold regardless of the time of year, they do tend to attract a lot of support before Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season. You’ll want to partner with community organizations to get the word out and to arrange for drop off locations. Plus, it’s a great idea to promote your event online and offer a list of the food items you need the most.

6.     Gift Wrapping Drives

No matter how sophisticated gift buying gets, one thing remains constant — most people hate having to wrap their gifts. With that in mind, putting together a team of your more dexterous volunteers and staff members and having them offer their gift-wrapping skills is a great way to get holiday shoppers to support your cause.

Offer a donation suggestion sheet for how much each shopper should donate to get their packages wrapped, based on the size of their gifts and the complexity of the wrapping job. Include special little additions, like bows and gift tags, to make each package look extra nice for the recipients. People do get more generous during the holidays, so a good gift-wrapping drive can be a great way to raise funds for your charity or nonprofit organization.

7.     Gift Card Raffle

Gift cards are incredibly popular during the holiday season for people looking to give them as presents or use them to save money on their own holiday shopping. So, why not address this demand by buying lots of different discount gift cards and offering them as raffle prizes during your event? You can also purchase electronic gift cards that are easily transferred to recipients, allowing you to get a virtual audience involved in an online raffle.

8.     Holiday Concert Series

Music is a big part of the holidays, and many people would love to see a live concert full of holiday cheer. Depending on your resources, you can go about this in many ways. Schools can get their orchestras and choirs to offer concerts filled with popular holiday songs. If you have connections with a local celebrity or band, maybe they’d like to put together a Christmas concert for one of your fundraisers.

You can also plan multiple music events throughout the holidays, with solo performers, a night of choral music, and even a fun night of holiday karaoke to let the audience get in on the fun. Once your audience sees you’re giving multiple opportunities to listen to holiday music, they’ll be more inclined to join in on the rest of the series.

Keep in mind that holiday concerts also offer opportunities to sell raffle tickets, hold a bake sale, and offer multiple concession stands. You may even want to offer a special VIP experience where certain ticket holders get to meet the performers after the show.

These are highly relevant to the audience's interests and can be expanded by incorporating unique cultural or local traditions into the event planning. For instance, a Christmas market with stalls selling handmade items by local artisans can be a draw.

Fundraising Event Ideas for Churches and Religious Organizations

1.     Babysitting Services (aka Parents Night Out)

This is an excellent fundraising event to throw for any organization with a lot of families. Parents regularly need breaks from their family responsibilities every now and then, and offering an alternative to the usual babysitting services is a great way to win their support.

Arrange to put on a night of supervised fun for kids, allowing parents to have a night to themselves. What you choose to offer can vary — you might set up a mini-carnival complete with face painting, arts and crafts projects, games etc. Or you might arrange a kids’ movie night and sleepover at your event venue. Parents can provide a reasonable donation amount for your service to take care of each child. Be sure to get them to sign waivers, provide contact information (and emergency contact information), as well as all the details of your event (including when to pick up their kids).

If you like, you can hold “Parents Night Out” in tandem with any of the Fundraising Ideas for Date Night event activities below. Offering parents an opportunity to support your nonprofit by letting your people take care of their kids and provide parents with a fun night out? Now that’s a winning combination!

2.     Craft Classes and Sales

Arts and crafts classes are popular events to hold, especially if you have a lot of people in your church who like working with their hands. From painting workshops to woodcarving lessons to model making classes, there’s really no shortage of the types of arts and crafts events you can offer during your fundraiser. And since today’s classes can also be help online through live stream courses, you can reach out to experts across the country or world and let them share their expertise.

Of course, if your classes and craft making communities grow, why not take advantage of this by offering a craft sale at your next fundraising event? You can host this in a number of different ways, from a traditional outdoor bazaar to an online sale to a silent or live auction that lets participants bid on beautiful hand-made craft items. This is a great way to nurture and showcase local talent while raising funds for your programs!

3.     Lent Challenge

A nice fundraising activity for Christian churches and religious organizations, the Lent Challenge observes the six-week period leading up to Easter when many Christians fast or choose to give up one item such as chocolate, meat, or alcohol, to refocus on their faith. Lent also finds many Christians engaging in acts of generosity by putting others first.

A Lent Challenge can request that churchgoers donate the money that would have otherwise gone to the item they are giving up. For instance, someone who contributes to this fundraiser might donate whatever they would usually spend on coffee or soda for those six weeks. Contributing to the church while engaging in acts of generosity related to items sacrificed is a nice way for donors to show support.

4.     Virtual Cooking Classes

Who wouldn’t like to add a new recipe to their regular dinner dishes? Cooking classes are great ways for people to socialize with each other and add to their skillsets. And in this digital age, you can let your congregation do this from the comfort of their own kitchens!

Find a cooking instructor who’s willing to spend a few hours leading a class in a cooking lesson. This can be a cooking enthusiast from your church, a professional chef from a partnering restaurant, or even a well-known celebrity able to connect with your church via livestream. Every participant can pay a fee to take part in the class, which can be held at a local cooking school (if you want to hold it in-person) or completely online.

Make sure to plan for enough time to work out all the logistics. The fee you charge may require you to supply each student with the ingredients for the dish, along with access to any cooking utensils they might not have. Once everyone’s done making their culinary masterpiece, you might even want to give the class a chance to hold a livestream dinner where they can sample their dishes alongside their classmates.

5.     Yard Sales

Yard sales are a great way to clean out your closets, raise money for your church programs, and spend time socializing with your friends. To be successful though, your event team will have to invest plenty of time organizing your sale. Schedule your yard sale’s date and time(s) well in advance so everyone can schedule in your event. Establish your event venue — will your sale take place at your church, a separate community center, or a neighborhood?

Come up with a “wish list” for items, inform people through your website and e-newsletter of where people can drop off donated items, and create teams of people to organize the items by type (housewares, clothing, books, toys etc.). Keeping everything organized will just ensure your event runs smoother, entices people to buy more, and raises more money for your causes!

6.     Karaoke Night

Karaoke nights might generate snickers from people who remember that one guy who loved to belt out power ballads off-key, but let’s be honest — everyone secretly wants a chance to showcase their talents and perform their favorite songs on stage. Your church can host an event that lets your members display their singing talents and entertain their friends. Have each singer pay a small fee to participate and develop a fun theme around the songs (religious music, showtunes, love songs, summer tunes etc.)

7.     Bingo Night

Church events and bingo nights go together well, and a bingo fundraiser can help raise plenty of financial support for your programs if you charge your donors and supporters a small fee to participate. You can add some nice variety to your games by offering variations on traditional bingo (for instance, some games might require players to fill all four corners of a card or create an “X” shape across the card to win). This helps sustain the excitement, increases opportunities for winning (make sure to have some prizes ready!), and brings in more players/donors.

8.     Tribute Giving Program

Tribute giving programs encourage people to donate in the name of a popular figure in your nonprofit or your community. While this sometimes means people contribute in the memory of a community member who passed away, you don’t have to limit your tribute giving programs this way. Spotlighting a recently retired pastor or a prominent member of your congregation can be just as effective in attracting donations — and offers you a chance to provide some much-deserved recognition to that person’s good works.

Ways to Raise Money Outdoors at Your Next Fundraising Event

1.     Exercise Lessons

From tennis lessons to outdoor yoga sessions to self-defense courses, plenty of exercise activities work well outdoors—making them the perfect fundraising events to host for the outdoor enthusiasts in your group. Partner with some local experts or professional instructors in different sports fields and offer exclusive lessons in exchange for a donation to your nonprofit or charity. If you choose a nice day to host your event, it’ll be a great way to promote not only your organization but also your partner’s services as well.

2.     Rollerblade Race

Who remembers all the fun they had as kids racing around a skating rink? Invite your supporters to a day of fun where they can lace up their rollerblades or skates and compete to see who can skate the most laps around a rink. You can partner with the skating rink to provide the event venue and get a volunteer DJ to play music and keep everyone’s energy up.

Aside from selling tickets to this fundraising event, you can raise money by having the skaters collect pledges for how many laps they complete. Be sure to have a concession stand ready with snacks and drinks — skating is thirsty work!

3.     Community Picnic

Luncheons and dinners are mainstays in the fundraising world, but there’s something about a community picnic that just feels more festive for groups, especially if you hold them outdoors. Make arrangements to host yours at a nice setting, like a park or a community garden. You can also plan out some appropriate activities, like a relay race, Easter egg hunt, or kids craft tables depending on the audience you’re throwing the picnic for.

If you really want to build some community spirit, turn the picnic into a potluck affair, giving everyone a chance to contribute. If you have some folks who know their way around a grill, you can also offer some barbecue. Community picnics offer multiple fundraising opportunities, including selling tickets to the picnic itself and providing additional chances to donate and take part in a raffle, auction, class, or game.

4.     Community Bonfire

Continue your community picnic into the night with a Community Bonfire. Bonfire parties are popular fundraising events particularly in English towns or villages. And they offer plenty of revenue generating opportunities in the U.S. A bonfire can attract a lot of attention, especially if you include live music, games, and even a firework show with your event. Charge admission and offer other fundraising activities, including food stands, raffles, and a charity auction.

5.     Ice Cream Social

This one almost seems like a no-brainer. Everyone wants to participate in an ice cream social — especially if you choose a hot summer day to throw yours. Partner with a local ice cream shop or ice cream producer that can supply you with plenty of flavors. Choose a spot that lets guests talk and mingle and make sure to schedule it on a day most convenient for them (weekends work best).

Make sure to have plenty of volunteers on hand to set up the event, pass out ice cream — and inform the public about your nonprofit (and how they can donate to your cause!).

6.     Pony Rides

Pony rides make a fun addition to community events and carnivals, especially for kids and horse lovers. You can partner with equine entertainment companies or mobile animal farms to supply you with ponies (as well as lambs, calves, ducklings, and more) for your event. Just make sure your event venue is big enough to accommodate the staff and your guests — and be sure to promote your event on social media well in advance!

7.     Mural Painting

Ready to let the artists in your group run wild? Mural painting parties offer a fun way to let people express themselves outside. You can arrange for teams of artists or individual artists to register on your crowdfunding website and promote the event to their social networks. If they’re particularly skilled chalk artists or graffiti artists, they may provide some crowd-attracting entertainment as people come to see them paint their creations throughout the day or weekend.

Make sure to get permission from business owners or city officials to paint murals on parking lot walls, buildings, or city walls. The paintings themselves can help represent your nonprofit or charity and bring attention to the social issues your programs are addressing. Raise funds by including other fundraising activities during your event — like an outdoor carnival, outside painting classes, picnics etc.

8.     Parade

Who wouldn’t want a chance to march in a parade or wave to people from a float? Fundraising parade events can run the gamut in terms of how creative or elaborate you can make them. You might partner with an existing community parade and auction off a spot on a major float at your next charity auction.

Alternatively, you might decide to throw a “pet parade” where animal owners get to show off their furry friends at a small parade. Some nonprofits choose to make this a pet costume parade (making it a great event to hold during Halloween) and work in a costume contest for both the pets and their owners. Plenty of great photo opportunities for your social media campaigns with this fundraising event — and you’ll be able to raise plenty of money with entry fees and tickets!

Online Fundraising Event Ideas for Nonprofits

1.     Pet Photo Contest

People love their pets and sharing photos of them on social media—so why not turn this into a fundraising challenge? Invite your supporters to share their favorite pet photos on Instagram with hashtags and photo tags (including a hashtag that promotes your nonprofit). You can create a special theme for the contest (like “funniest pet costume” or “weird napping poses”).

Winners can be determined by which photos get the most likes on Instagram. You can also upload the entries onto a central landing page. People who vote can make small monetary donations toward your nonprofit.

2.     Funny Video Challenge

Everyone likes viewing and sharing funny videos online, so why not let your nonprofit or charity get in on the fun? Not only is a funny video challenge a good way to raise money through entry fees and donation requests, it’s also a great way to spread awareness of your nonprofit and its cause through hashtags on Instagram posts. Be sure to create fun themes for your challenge (like funny baby videos or funny cat videos).

3.     Fashion Photo Contest

Similar to your pet photo contest, a fashion photo contest will enable your supporters to upload photos of their best outfits onto Instagram. Again, you can create multiple themes for your contest (i.e., “Thrift Store Chic,” “70s Retro,” “Superhero Cosplay,” and more). Upload the photos onto a separate landing page or keep the contest completely on social media by letting people vote with likes.

One extra piece of incentive you can offer is to share the winner’s photo on all of your social media accounts and website home page. You might also see if any of your partners that publish fashion blogs or magazines would like to display the winner’s fashion photos. All of this can motivate people to pay entry fees to share their photos!

4.     Instagram Raffle

Instagram is a great way to promote your fundraising raffle or auction — especially if you can share a photo and description of a really unique and desirable prize and get it in front of a lot of eyeballs. You can make this prize anything from a custom swag bag to a luxury spa day to an all-inclusive vacation package. Just make sure it fits your supporters’ interests and the photos you provide communicate how fun the prize is.

Include step-by-step instructions on your Instagram that show people how to win the prize. Make sure they know where to buy raffle tickets and show up for the drawing. You might even offer additional incentives — for instance people who donate an additional $20 before a predetermined deadline might get 20 more entries to win the prize. If the prize is good enough, you’ll get a lot of participation.

5.     Social Media Challenge

The ice bucket challenge. Beard growing contests. Head shaving challenges. Social media is full of weird and funny challenges that attract plenty of attention. Select or create your own social media challenge that you can promote on Instagram and raise money for your cause. Not only do these photo challenges give people an opportunity to donate to your nonprofit, they also raise awareness of your nonprofit, particularly when people use your event hashtag and mention your nonprofit in their captions.

6.     Facebook Fundraiser

Facebook fundraisers are easy to create and can easily coincide with events like your birthday or a holiday. Your social media network should be more than willing to contribute to a birthday fundraiser that helps raise money for your nonprofit organization, and you can help spread awareness of the causes your nonprofit or charity supports in your posts. You can also use different crowdfunding platforms to create social media fundraising posts and raise money that way.

7.     Text-to-Give Campaigns

Did you know the average donation size for text-to-give (or text-to-donate) fundraisers is $107? Given that practically everyone has a smartphone or mobile device these days and is becoming increasingly comfortable donating with them, this isn’t really surprising. Launching a text-to-give campaign that lets donors receive text messages that let them immediately give to your cause is an excellent way to use text messaging to raise money.

If you’re using an online platform like PayBee, you can also text a link to your fundraising page, allowing people to go directly to your website from their mobile phones and give that way.

8.     Video Campaign

Videos showcasing the social issues your nonprofit or charity is addressing can be very powerful motivators for fundraisers. Producing a professional video that reveals the human cost and effects of homelessness, animal cruelty, pollution, or any other number of issues and then sharing it through social media channels such as Facebook or YouTube is an excellent way to raise awareness of your nonprofit’s cause. Make sure to include links to your donation page and fundraising website to let viewers support your nonprofit—as your views increase, so will the number of potential donors.

Creative Fundraising Ideas to Liven Up Date Night

1.     Comedy Night

Who wouldn’t want to form (or strengthen) a connection during a fun night of laughter? You can offer local performers and up-and-coming comics to share their comedy stylings at a comedy night designed to raise money for your nonprofit. Funds can come from entry tickets as well as food and drink sales. Your event venue (which can be anything from a local comedy club to a bar or restaurant) can also help out by contributing a percentage of the night’s proceeds to your cause.

2.     Bachelor/Bachelorette Auctions

Here’s an event that’ll appeal to the single people in your group. Bachelor/bachelorette auctions are great events that let people spend a fun night out by donating to your nonprofit’s cause.

There are a lot of different ways you can go with this. You might see if a local celebrity or personality will donate a day to hang out with a lucky auction winner. Or you can keep it more casual by getting the fun singles in your support network to offer their own time. Dates also don’t have to have romantic implications — you can just market them as fun shared social events.

The events themselves can be supplied by your sponsors and partners in exchange for promoting their businesses. Let those events reflect your audience’s interests — active folks might be more into a day of golf or a hiking date, while others may be more into a spa day or a fancy dinner.

3.     Speed Dating

A little different than the other events on this list, a speed dating fundraising event gives the single people in your group a chance to meet other singles. What’s nice about connecting this with your nonprofit or charity is that these people will be able to meet others with a shared interest in philanthropy or your nonprofit’s cause. This can be an excellent way to meet someone with similar values.

Participants pay a registration fee and spend a few minutes getting to know each “date” before moving on to the next one. Add to the fun by auctioning off fun “date nights” supplied by restaurants, spas, and hotels you can get to sponsor your event. That way, if any of your participants do form a connection, they’ll be more motivated to bid on your auction items.

4.     Battle of the Bands

Concerts are always a fun place to spend date night — but you don’t have to break the bank by getting a well-known singer or band to headline your charity concert. Instead, why don’t you put the focus on popular local bands with their own followings?

The great thing about battle of the bands fundraising is it offers so many revenue-generating opportunities. You can sell tickets to attendees so they can watch the bands rock out. Each band can also fundraise to earn a spot on the stage (and can even create their own peer-to-peer fundraising website to get their supporters to raise money for your nonprofit).

You can hold fun raffles and auctions during the event, and if you invite influencers and local personalities to judge the show, you can offer both the bands and your nonprofit a great way to promote your event, the bands, and your cause.

5.     Casino Night

If a trip to Vegas isn’t in the immediate cards, why not bring Vegas to your guests and offer a fun casino night complete with roulette, blackjack, and poker? Each attendee can purchase tickets in exchange for a certain number of casino chips (and even make additional donations if they want to buy back in). Guests can dress up, providing plenty of fun photo opportunities that can be shared on social media to promote your other events.

As with many of these event ideas, you can offer multiple opportunities to donate — for instance, by creating a grand prize door raffle where guests can contribute to your nonprofit for a chance to win valuable gift cards or free tickets to upcoming events. If you create the right casino night atmosphere, everyone will be looking to test their luck!

6.     Murder Mystery Dinner

A Murder Mystery party or dinner can be a popular event to hold for your next fundraiser. While you can hire a professional murder mystery company to provide entertainment, if any of your volunteers or staff members are experienced actors and performers, it’s also possible to produce this affair “in-house.” Just be sure your guests not only buy tickets in advance but also invite family and friends.

Come up with a fun story that lets spectators question suspects and piece together clues in order to solve the mysterious staged murder at your dinner or party. You can also add to the fun by encouraging guests to come dressed in costume and participate in a costume contest. Done right, this could be one date night to remember.

7.     Wine Tasting

Wine tastings can be classy affairs that make a fun date night. Your nonprofit can partner with local wineries or restaurants who can donate a few bottles of their most popular wines in exchange for some free promotion at your event. To make your wine tasting more interactive, you might hire a sommelier to show each guest how to properly sample each wine and offer some history on each bottle of wine.

You can also raise funds by including other events in your activity. For instance, auctioning off baskets of fine wines, breads, cheeses, bottle openers, and glassware is an excellent way to capitalize on your audience’s interest in the event. You can also raffle off bottles of wine as well as gift cards to your local wineries and vineyards.

8.     Vacation Auction

Live auctions are always popular events at fundraisers — but if you really want to excite the couples in your group, offer a vacation auction that provides fun and relaxing weekend getaways for the bidders.

Based on your audience’s interests (and financial means), you could offer some simple stay-cations at local hotels and resorts or go all out and create vacation packages with airline tickets, multi-night hotel stays, restaurant gift certificates, and entertainment offerings. Accommodations can be supplied by your sponsors.

Alternatively, you can make use of charity consignment items. These are high-ticket auction items (like vacation packages) that you can get from a third party for no upfront cost to your nonprofit. These vacation packages are assigned a consignment price that gets collected by the third party if the item sells. As long as you make sure the item gets sold for above the consignment price, your nonprofit will be able to collect the difference. (Just make sure not to sell below the consignment price—if you do, you’ll have to pay the difference to the third party out of your own pocket.

Fun Fundraising Gala Ideas for Game Night

1.     Poker Tournament

Poker charity tournaments have been attended by celebrities, professional poker players, and the casual gambler. Make your poker fundraiser a simple affair anyone can participate in — for a suggested donation amount, players receive a set amount of chips and can sit in at multiple tables. Offer players chances to buy back in (up to a certain point in the night) for an additional donation.

Be aware of the costs associated with hosting a charity poker tournament, which can include your venue, the staff, refreshments, marketing, poker accessories, and any required permits or licenses. As long as you can keep your expenses manageable, a good charity poker game can help reach very high fundraising goals.

2.     Trivia Night

The great thing about trivia nights is they can become a regular event that can help raise money for your nonprofit every month or even every week. Trivia nights are easy to organize at restaurants or bars and are very affordable — particularly if you decide to host them online as virtual trivia nights.

To raise money, create an entry fee for each participant or team. You can also offer donation opportunities to audience members or people who like to watch the livestream from your website. If you can partner with a restaurant or other event venue, see if they’ll share a portion of their food and drink revenue for the night with your nonprofit.

Make sure the theme of your trivia nights resonates with your supporters. If your guests know a lot about sports, movies, pop culture, or any other subject, it’s to your advantage to come up with some fun but challenging questions in those areas to let everyone show off their knowledge. And don’t forget to supply some great prizes for the winners!

3.     Bowling Tournament

Who doesn’t like a fun night of bowling, especially when you get to compete for a trophy and bragging rights? Much like other fundraising tournaments, each bowling team will pay an entry fee to participate in the contest. See if you can also recruit partners and sponsors to help pay for the event venue (each sponsor might pay for a specific lane) and even provide items like prizes or uniforms where they can feature their logo.

4.     Eating Contest

From pie eating contests to pancake eating competitions to the often-covered hot dog eating championship, eating contests get a lot of attention from participants and audiences. Keep overhead costs down by getting local shops or bakeries to supply the food in exchange for free promotion so they can highlight their brand.

Participants pay an entry fee and you can also offer multiple donation opportunities to audience members. Just be sure to keep your contest safe for all the eaters so everyone has fun!

5.     Board Game Night

If your supporters appreciate a low-tech evening of fun, breaking out classic board games like Monopoly, Clue, and Snakes and Ladders might be just the sort of nostalgic entertainment your audience is hungry for. And don’t think this only applies to the older crowd — with all the reboots and callbacks in popular entertainment these days, the younger crowd may appreciate a more retro game night as well.

You can turn this into a series of mini-tournaments where players can show off their skills at their favorite game (or try their luck at a new one). Charge for entry and be sure to offer prizes for all the winners.

6.     Scavenger Hunt

Here’s one event that can be done as a classic scavenger hunt where teams run around town looking for the items on their lists or an updated digital version where participants can scour the Internet and take photos or screenshots of the outrageous items on their lists and submit them for approval.

As always, you’ll want to charge people a registration fee to participate. You might even offer some extra perks in exchange for an additional donation — like a five-minute head start or even some hints on the location for some of the items.

7.     Wine Pull

Do your supporters and guests love wine? Then a wine pull might be the perfect game for them. In these events, you’ll collect several bottles of wine (roughly 30 bottles for every 50 people in attendance). Wines should vary in type and quality, with most in the mid-to-low-range and a small amount being high-end wines. If you can get a local winery to sponsor your fundraising event, this could be the perfect way to collect donated bottles of wines while promoting your sponsor.

On the day of your event, wrap each bottle in paper to hide its brand and set them on a table or stock them in a wine wall. Your guests can then buy a ticket (usually for $10-$25) to select a bottle of wine. The fun comes from seeing if the bottle each guest selected costs less than what they donated — or if they chose a high-end wine that’s significantly more than they paid.

8.     Hula Hoop Contest

If you have some hula hoop enthusiasts in your group, a hula hoop contest offers a fun twist on traditional fundraising games. Much like a walkathon, each hula hoop contestant will collect pledges from people in their social network. The pledges can be based on the number of revolutions each contestant completes or the number of seconds they can keep their hula hoops from dropping to the ground.

This is a fun competition that can be enjoyed in-person and/or online. The hula hoopers will help raise money for your cause (and, in fact, since everyone is collecting pledges, the actual winner of the contest might not even be the one who raises the most money). Be sure to have some prizes ready for your winners — which could include both the hula hoop champion and the contestant who brought in the most funds for your nonprofit.  

Family-Friendly Fundraising Event Ideas for Nonprofit Organizations Supporting Museums

1.     Spend the Night at the Museum

Okay, so maybe your museum doesn’t boast walking T-Rex skeletons and living wax figures when the sun goes down (although if it does, that would be a heck of a draw for a fundraiser). Still, organizing a Night at the Museum event can be a popular fundraising activity that will draw in large crowds.

Consider what kind of all-night event you’d like to host. An elegant black-tie gala? A sleepover for kids with movies? A dance party for young adults and teens? You could even attempt to create the same kind of atmosphere from the “Night at the Museum” franchise by hiring actors to play the historical figures in your exhibits and take guests on a magical tour of your building.

Keep in mind that you’ll need enough staff to provide entertainment and provide security and organization throughout your event. If it’s going to be an all-night fundraiser, you’ll want to create shifts and make sure your volunteers and staff members provide relief for certain tasks.

Fundraising opportunities can come from ticket sales, but you can also provide donation boxes and donation QR codes for people to donate online. Raffles and auctions also make fun activities to include during the event, and you can definitely promote your museum’s membership program and other perks as guests enjoy your fundraiser.

2.     Silent or Live Local Artists’ Auction

If you run an art museum, a local artists auction is a great way to fundraise and develop connections with local talent. Reach out to local artists and offer them a chance to showcase their artwork at your museum during your fundraiser. Art pieces, which can include paintings and sculptures, can be displayed much like any new exhibit for patrons and other community members to peruse.

Make sure to include stories about each individual local artist as well as the story behind each work of art. Not only will this help promote local artists, you’ll also help form stronger connections between the work and the patrons interested in buying them. Museum staff can even be on hand to share these stories and offer thought-provoking discussions about the pieces.

All of this helps fuel engagement during the actual auction (which can be a live gala or a silent online event). Be sure to work out all the details with each artist as you’re planning the event — will the artists donate all the proceeds from their sales to your museum or will they take a commission? The more mutually beneficial your arrangements are, the more sustainable your relationships with the local artist community will be.

3.     Museum Scavenger Hunt

Museums are full of fascinating items and amazing treasures, making them the perfect place to hold a scavenger hunt fundraiser. You can create a list of items found within each of your exhibits and send your guests on a hunt through your museum where they can take photos and collect all the images of the needed items.

Alternatively, you might want to take this event outdoors and challenge your guests to find historical landmarks or little-known points of interests within your city. Again, you can get your guests to take photos or selfies at each landmark and upload them online to your fundraising website.

Fundraising opportunities can come from entrance fees. You can also enable each scavenger hunt team to create a peer-to-peer fundraising page where their social network can offer pledges for each scavenger hunt item found, letting them raise money for you with each landmark or treasure they find.

Just be sure to make your scavenger hunt challenging — and be prepared to offer some great prizes for the winners!

4.     Museum Gala

Museums are fantastic event venues for black-tie events. Consider holding it during one of your fancier exhibitions so guests can walk around beautiful art pieces or rare exhibits while interacting with other patrons.

As with all successful fundraising events, you’ll want to plan yours well in advance. Make sure to have plenty of staff and volunteers on hand to organize everything and secure all the corporate sponsors you need. Advertise your event months in advance and make sure all your guests purchase tickets well before the day of your event.

Again, you can raise money not only through ticket sales but auctions and raffles held during the event. You can even make your museum fundraiser a hybrid event where people can meet (and donate) online while interacting with live guests via live streams.

5.     History Walk

This fundraising event works particularly well if your museum is a historical museum with tour guides well versed in the local history of your community. Rather than limit your tours to the inside of your museum, history walks give guests a chance to take a tour of the fascinating landmarks in their own city and learn little-known-facts about the shops, fountains, buildings, and streets they see every day.

You can also give your history walk fundraisers a seasonal theme. For instance, during the fall months, offering a Ghost Tour of your neighborhood will attract plenty of paranormal enthusiasts who will enjoy learning about the ghost sightings and otherworldly activity in local buildings. Do your research — you’re sure to come up with some amazing historical stories and urban legends.

The great thing about history walks is that you can relate the stories you tell to the exhibits at your museum, giving incentive to your guests to drop by your museum after the walk is done and continue their adventure by paying for a tour there!

6.     Treasure Hunt

Scavenger hunts and easter egg hunts are all fun variations on treasure hunts that you can hold in (or around) your museum. If you want to really attract competitors, though, you might want to offer a game like the “Hidden Diamond.”

In this game, you’ll supply a real diamond and place it in a bowl with some costume jewelry diamonds. Your guests can pay a fee to use a pair of tweezers and attempt to extract the real diamond from the fakes. Each guest can be blindfolded during their attempt, or if your fake diamonds are realistic-looking, you might give each contestant a chance to assess the fake jewels from the real one.

Get a local jewelry store or diamond dealership to sponsor your event and supply a diamond (likewise, you can partner with a costume jewelry shop to provide you with the fakes). This is a cool event to include in your black-tie galas and can generate a lot of excitement — especially if the winner gets to keep the diamond!  

7.     Stage Play

Stage plays are often associated with school fundraisers, but just imagine the fun of producing one at a museum. You might be able to use your art exhibits as a backdrop and use your access to unique costumes and flashy atmospheric effects to add some extra pizazz to your production. If your museum already has a stage set up for presentations and speeches, you’ve probably already met most of your technical requirements!

Choose a play that fits with your current exhibit — for instance, a rollicking archeological adventure might make the perfect entertainment if you’re currently hosting an Egyptology exhibition displaying items from real-life digs. Fundraising opportunities can come from ticket sales, concessions, audience raffles and more.

8.     Movie Night

It’s fun seeing movies in unconventional places, and a movie night at a museum can attract families, patrons, or just curiosity-seekers looking for some fun. If you have an amphitheater with projection capabilities that’s great — you might also be able to showcase a feature-length movie at your planetarium or any large exhibition space with a large blank wall.

Alternatively, you can offer movie night outside and let your guests sit on the lawn and enjoy a movie under the stars (just be sure to pick a night with good weather).

Make sure to follow any legalities in your area concerning showing movies to the public. As for what movie you’ll want to show, well “Night at the Museum” (2006) is an obvious choice (if a little on the nose), but any of the Indiana Jones films or historical dramas related to your current exhibitions are great picks too!

Favorite Fundraising Event Ideas for the Workplace

1.     Your Boss Becomes Your Assistant

Who wouldn’t want their boss to take over their regular work tasks for a day? Create an office fundraiser where workers can donate toward a fundraising goal in exchange for the boss to take over everyday tasks from fetching everyone coffee to performing filing duties. Role reversals can be a lot of fun — just don’t give your boss too hard of a time (their assistant duties will end in twenty-four hours, after all).

2.     Cross-Company Charity Competition

Try saying this three times fast! Let’s face it — friendly “rivalries” between companies can lead to some fun and healthy competitions. So, why not channel this energy into a fundraiser? Challenging rival work teams to raise more revenue than other companies can provide just the spark needed to offer your favorite charity or nonprofit more support.

Make sure this competition appeals to everyone participating — sports games, crowdfunding campaigns, and even scavenger hunts can all get more exciting when the teams come from different companies.  

3.     Spelling Bee

Wait, why isn’t this activity in the school fundraising event section? Well… it could be, but holding a spelling bee fundraiser at your office can be an unexpected and fun activity that will challenge workers in ways they haven’t been since school.

Plus, let’s be honest — spelling bees can be very competitive affairs that get both participants and the audience highly invested. So, why not use that to your advantage in a fundraiser? Each participant can ask their social networks for pledges based on how many words they spell correctly. You can live stream your competition and give viewers a chance to donate online while they root for their favorite players.

Naturally, you’ll want to provide cool prizes for your winners — but honestly? Getting bragging rights for being your office’s number-one speller is kind of cool in and of itself.

4.     Prime Parking Space Challenge

Let’s be honest — when you’re working at an office, few things convey more prestige and privilege than having a prime parking spot reserved just for you. So, why not locate that sweet space that’s in the shade and close to the door and offer it as the ultimate incentive for your fundraising event?

How you offer this prize can vary. You might simply auction it off at a live or silent fundraising auction. You might create a workplace competition where co-workers can donate toward getting that spot reserved for them. You can even make this reserved parking space a temporary arrangement, allowing other workers to compete for it every few months.

5.     Company Basketball Day

Making sure your workers get plenty of exercise is always a good company policy. Making sure they get that exercise while helping to raise money for your company’s nonprofit? Even better.

Organizing a basketball fundraiser is a great way to go about this, especially if you have a lot of basketball enthusiasts in your office. Just arrange to have a basketball court ready (if your workplace doesn’t have one, you can use local gyms, rec centers, parks, or even schools). Advertise your event via company e-newsletters, website announcements, and physical flyers posted around your work area.

Registrants can pay an entry fee to play — and can even start their own peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns to get their social networks to support their team during the game. Make sure to provide great prizes for the winning team as added incentive — they’re bringing their A game for your fundraiser!

6.     Wacky Wagers

Wacky wagers are a great crowdfunding activity for your office. Get individuals or groups in your office to set small fundraising goals attached to goofy incentives that encourage donations. For instance, you can get your boss to promise to dress in a bunny suit, get an office worker to dye their hair a weird color, or get your supervisor to communicate via charades for a day.

This is a fundraising event that works well online since you can reach out to larger pools of potential donors through your social media networks and offer easy ways to donate or pledge online or through smart phones. Use your imagination and get people to fund your office wackiness!

7.     Corporate Matching Gifts

Getting employees to contribute to fundraising efforts is nice, but if you really want to increase your fundraiser’s effectiveness, you can seek out companies that will partner with you and provide corporate matching gifts that will double your donations. In many cases, your corporate partners will match employee and volunteer donations dollar-for-dollar, giving your donors more incentive to give since they know their contributions will lead to greater fundraising. Some corporate matching fits even use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio, increasing your revenue substantially.

Check to see if your employer or company offers a corporate philanthropy program with matching gifts. It’s a great way to increase the amount of money you fundraise while building a company’s socially conscious brand.

8.     Dress Down Day

Tired of coming to work in a suit and tie or uncomfortable shoes? Employees hungry for a few extra casual Fridays might be willing to donate money for a Dress Down Day. You can offer this in many ways — the simplest being to just let an employee dress casually if they donate a certain amount to your fundraiser. Alternatively, you can let the whole office dress down if they reach a certain fundraising goal on your website, or you can auction or raffle off dress down passes that workers can bid or compete for.

Simple Fundraising Event Ideas to Help the Environment

1.     Can (and Bottle) Collection

This fundraising opportunity can be more than just an event — you can make this a regular policy where people dispose of their recyclable products on a day-by-day basis, allowing you to exchange them for cash and use the funds to support your programs. Alternatively, you can create formal events where your supporters bring in large quantities of recyclables to be exchanged for money at collection sites.

Arrange to have volunteers crush cans, store all the recyclables, and transport them to the site. You can make this a competition between teams of volunteers and donors who challenge each other to the team that processes the most recyclables or donates the most items. Be sure to publicize your event on social media and your website — and have some prizes ready to give your hard working volunteers!

2.     Junk Donations

Some items, like used ink cartridges, batteries, and broken laptops can’t be thrown away or resold but need to be disposed of safely. You can find recyclers who deal with such items and see if they’ll pay for dead electronic devices, scrap metal etc.

The nice thing about this is that an office may have a lot of electronic junk that needs to be safely recycled — and you can collect even more items from your workers who need to clean out their closets and home offices. Just be sure to follow all safety protocols (making sure to safely destroy computer hard drives is important for the environment and personal privacy).

3.     Car Donation Program

There are plenty of organizations like Car Donation Wizard that will take unwanted used cars in exchange for a donation. If you make car donating an annual event for your office’s nonprofit program, it can be something that’ll attract publicity for your company and nonprofit organization, particularly if you have a lot of cars to donate. Spend time organizing the event so you can get adequate media coverage and make things convenient for the people you’re donating the cars to.

As far as how much you can make from this event — be aware that websites handling car donations do take a cut of the donation value (sometimes up to 50%), so you’ll want to factor that in during the planning period. Still, there are plenty of benefits to this fundraising event — including the ability to promote your brand and mission — that go beyond simply raising money.

4.     Community Clean Up Day

Spending a day collecting trash around your community neighborhoods is a great way to develop solidarity among your volunteers — and also an opportunity for fundraising. Volunteers can request pledges from their social networks based on how much trash they pick up and dispose of properly.

Plan your Community Clean Up Day around spring so your volunteers get to work outside in nice weather (Earth Day would be an ideal time for this event). Wear your organization’s T-shirts during the event to help spread brand awareness and use gloves to protect your hands. Instructing your volunteers on what they should avoid picking up for safety reasons is important as well.  

5.     Educational Clinic

Webinars, conferences, and work groups are all great events not only for fundraising but also for raising awareness of your cause. If your nonprofit is built around environmentalism, you can host many thought-provoking seminars (or online webinars) on topics like conservation, recycling, sustainability and more. Charge an entry fee to participate and contact local or even national experts who can guest lecture and bring in a crowd.

6.     Shoe and Clothing Drive

Recycling isn’t the only way to help the environment. Repurposing — and reusing — existing items is a good way to conserve resources and prevent over consumption.

Shoe and clothing drives are great ways to do this. Put the word out via your social media channels, website, and e-newsletter that you need to collect the piles of old (but still usable) shoes in the closets of your support network. Ditto on all the gently-used clothes that have gone unworn or outgrown by your kids and family members.

Partner with an organization like Funds2Orgs that can pick up shoes and send them to small business owners in developing nations. These organizations will then pay your nonprofit for the items which you can use to keep your programs going. It’s a good way to expand your partner networks, declutter closets, and get clothing items into the hands of people who need them!

7.     Garden and Plant Sale

Plant sales are nice fundraising events for folks with green thumbs. You can organize yours in a number of ways — for instance, it might be easiest to create a single plant booth sale at a larger event, like a carnival. Or, if you find you have a lot of plants and flowers to offer, every member of your team can run their own booth at a themed event. Alternatively, a plant swap or seed swap fundraiser is a fun event for gardening enthusiasts who can simply participate for an entry fee.

Hold your garden and plant sale during the late spring or early summer if that’s when your weather is best. You’ll want to arrange to have an event venue large enough for your event — large events can be held at a social club or school playing field. Or if you’d like to host something smaller and more intimate, a private garden might be an excellent venue.

Finally, be sure to plan for enough time to prepare and promote your event! It takes time for gardeners to grow extra plants, take cuttings, and pot flowers and plants for your sale. Likewise, people need to be informed in advance via social media and e-newsletters about your event.

8.     Eco-Friendly World Record Attempt

World record attempts attract lots of attention from the media and curiosity seekers — and a world record attempt related to ecology and protecting the environment helps promote your organization’s mission and brand.

Brainstorm possible eco-friendly “green records.” This might include most trees planted by a group, removing the most floating debris from a river or lake, recycling the most aluminum cans, building structures out of recycled plastic and other materials, building more affordable electric motors etc.

• Initiative Selection: Decide on an eco-friendly project that aligns with your mission, such as tree planting or a clean-up drive.
• Educational Campaign: Inform your community about the importance of the project and its impact.
• Fundraising Strategy: Set up donation tiers with specific outcomes (e.g., $1 plants one tree).
• Community Engagement: Involve schools, businesses, and local media to spread the word and participate.
• Transparency: Provide regular updates on the progress towards the goal and the project's impact.

Real-World Example: The Nature Conservancy runs "Plant a Billion Trees" campaign, where each dollar donated equals one tree planted. They provide updates on the progress of the campaign, showing donors the tangible impact of their contributions on global reforestation efforts.

With growing environmental consciousness, eco-friendly fundraisers can attract a lot of attention. This could include events like a community garden day, where participants help plant a community garden, with each plant or row sponsored by donors.

Naturally, each world record attempt can become a way to collect pledges from supporters who will donate once you hit multiple set milestones. Plan your event well in advance and work out your promotional and organizational strategies, making it easier for your volunteers to break a record. Win or lose though, a strong attempt will help you make a positive impact on the environment, gain more publicity for your organization, and earn money for your programs.

Additional Fundraising Event Ideas for Hospitals

1.     Flower Sales

Here’s a nice fundraising idea that fits in well with the patient centered care hospitals strive to provide. Flowers provide a nice way to brighten up rooms and offices, particularly during trying times. While your hospital may already have a gift shop where visitors can purchase flowers, you can partner with local ornamental shops or flower shops near your clinic and request flower donations. Donors and supporters can then place online orders for special arrangements that may be in big demand at hospitals and clinics.

2.     Gift Shop

Speaking of your gift shop — you can also make this a part of your fundraiser by offering donated or even handmade items that visitors can purchase, allowing the proceeds to support the hospital. Likewise, you can include donation boxes in your gift shop as well as donation QR codes.

3.     Fitness Challenge

Promoting good health also means promoting good exercise habits — which is why a fitness challenge can be an excellent fundraising opportunity for your hospital staff. Practically any of the events listed above in Fundraising Ideas for Sports Lovers can be modified into your hospital fundraiser. Be sure to promote the event on social media well in advance.

4.     Pet Meet-and-Greet

Animal therapy is a proven way to improve patient moods and promote healing, so why not extend this to your supporters? Being able to spend some time with friendly therapy dogs, cats, and other animals will definitely get the endorphins flowing in your donors and encourage them to give generously. If you already have an animal therapy program or partner with an organization that supplies therapy animals, you can use this to create your own “playtime fundraiser” for your guests.

5.     Fiesta

Much like a school carnival or church festival, a hospital fiesta lets you offer all sorts of fun community entertainment while providing multiple fundraising opportunities to raise money for your mission. Plan your fiesta around your supporters’ interests — is there a certain musical entertainer that can attract a lot of attention? Could you raise money by hosting a live auction with items catered to your guests’ tastes? Should most of the games be centered around children or will you be dealing with an older crowd? The more you tailor your fiesta to your audience’s needs, the more successful your event.

6.     Goody Bag Sale

Much like your flower sale or gift shop fundraiser, a goody bag sale lets your event team put together attractive and useful gift bags visitors can purchase for patients. Partner with sponsors who can donate items patients need — from food to beauty items. Alternatively, you can create a simple grab bag sale where donors can choose smaller gift bags at random for some unique gifts (just make sure they’re all the type of items the patients will appreciate).  

7.     Breakfast with Characters

This event idea works really well with children’s hospitals. Giving kids a chance to have breakfast with Spider-Man or their favorite Disney princess goes a long way in raising morale. You can also offer multiple variations on this activity — for instance, offering a Halloween fundraising event where diabetic kids can play games with superheroes and cartoon characters instead of trick or treating for candy raises plenty of goodwill. And of course, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to collect donations from parents and your support network.  

8.     Balloon Display Contest

Here’s a nice competitive fundraiser you can involve your offices in. Supply different departments who want to participate with balloons branded with your nonprofit or clinic’s name. Teams can compete to create attractive balloon displays in exchange for prizes. The displays can be used to decorate different floors and departments, spreading cheer while also promoting your brand.

Nonprofit Fundraising Event Ideas for Animal Lovers

1.     Petting Zoo Fundraiser

Partner with organizations like Walking M Farms that bring their fully mobile petting zoos to your event. You can even arrange to have pony rides at your church, school, or community fundraiser, giving an additional popular activity for your event. Both petting zoos and pony rides provide plenty of photo opportunities for your social media marketing campaigns, and of course you can sell photos, rides, and animal interactions at your fundraising event.

2.     Puppy Meet-Up

This one overlaps with the Pet Meet-and-Greet above, but the principle is the same: spending time with friendly animals definitely puts donors in a giving mood. You can partner with animal rescue organizations who can not only supply the puppies but be on hand to supervise as well. This is also a great way to encourage or educate others on pet adoption.

3.     Pet Pledge Fundraiser

Humans create birthday fundraisers all the time on social media — so why can’t your pet? Create an online fundraiser on Facebook or other popular social media channels and inform your supporters that they can support your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts in lieu of a gift. This doesn’t have to be limited to birthdays either, any special day will do. Therapy animal retirement parties are particularly good events to collect pledges.

4.     National Therapy Animal Day

Did you know that April 11^th is National Pet Day or that April 30^th is National Therapy Animal Day? This makes the entire month of April a particularly good month to throw fundraising activities to benefit your animal nonprofit. You can adopt any of the activities on this list for a pet-themed fundraising event. Be sure to use your activities and online promotion efforts to raise awareness and educate the public about the animals you support and the people who care for them.

5.     Pet Treats Day

Here’s a fun take on the traditional “bake sale” fundraiser. Many pet owners bake their own healthy and delicious treats for their dogs and cats. So, why not create an event where they can show off their culinary masterpieces and sell them to raise money for your nonprofit? This is a fun way to get the foodies/animal lovers in your group to get together and exchange tips on preferred pet foods and treats. Oh — and don’t forget to provide concession stands for the humans too!

6.     Kiss-a-Pig Fundraiser

Here’s a slightly odd fundraising activity that will provide plenty of fun photos to share on social media and your future fundraising campaigns. Some organizations like Hawks Ranch Petting Zoo, LLC will supply a mini pig for someone in your organization to kiss on the day of your fundraiser. This could be your school principal, a teacher, a president, or your office manager. The idea is to give your support network extra incentive to meet their fundraising goals (which can be anything from selling a lot of raffle tickets to reaching a sales goal at an auction). There’ll be plenty of photo opportunities and time to meet the pig as well.

7.     Pet Care Classes

All animal lovers want to know how to take better care of their pets. New pet owners need to be educated on proper care (especially if they’re kids). You can fill this need by offering educational fundraising events where animal shelter staff, local vets, and other experts hold classes on “Basic Dog/Cat Care,” “Pet First Aid and CPR,” or even more exotic topics like “Caring for Your Snake.” You can sell tickets to the classes and promote your nonprofit’s services and mission during the courses as well.

8.     Viral YouTube Animal Video Challenge

Spend any amount of time on YouTube or Facebook and you’ll be bombarded with video clips of cute cats and dogs being… cute cats and dogs. With this in mind, offer a chance for the animal lovers in your organization to create videos of their own pets. Establish guidelines that keep each video clip short, focused on the emotional connection, and shot with high quality video. Videos that also tell a fun or heartwarming story about a pet’s history are great too.

Of course, not all animal videos go viral — and even the ones that earn lots of views don’t earn a lot from just ad revenue. However, a popular video can offer an effective doorway into your nonprofit, so be sure to include a call to action at the end of each video with a link that sends viewers to your website and a donation page where they can contribute to your mission.

Annual Fundraising Events for Foodies

1.     Pancake Breakfast

Mmm… pancakes! For a dish made of essentially flour and water, pancakes are popular with practically everyone, making a pancake breakfast a great choice for the foodies in your support network.

While the act of making pancakes is a simple one, you’ll want to spend time preparing and organizing your event so you can serve everyone. Build a website advertising your pancake breakfast fundraiser. Be sure to include the menu, list serving times, and spotlight the event location (along with directions). All of this information should be included in your online and offline promotional efforts as well. Oh, and make sure to create a donation page where everyone can donate whether or not they attend.

For the event itself, you’ll want to reserve a breakfast venue like a school cafeteria, church gathering area, or restaurant. Purchase adequate amounts of pancake mix, butter, syrup, fruit toppings, juice, tea, coffee, and other menu items (getting sponsors to fund or donate these items would be ideal). And be sure to get all the necessary utensils, cook wear, plates, napkins, and other dining essentials.

Organize teams of volunteers to handle the cooking, serving, stocking, and clean up duties. An additional team should be on hand to promote the event on social media and send out email reminders. PayBee software can help handle your ticketing and marketing campaigns.

2.     Chili Cook-Off

Odds are the foodies in your group have their own special chili recipes, making a chili cook-off a great fundraising activity to let those chefs have their moment in the sun. As with any fundraising event, you’ll want to start by working out all the logistics, including your event budget, venue, staff and volunteer needs, sponsors, and promotional plan. Recruiting chili cooks, judges, and establishing contest rules is important as well.

Be sure to promote your event heavily via social media, email newsletters, direct mail, and word-of-mouth. Arranging local media coverage of your event is a good way to attract guests as well. Be sure everyone knows how to purchase tickets for your event (once again, PayBee software can help). You’ll also want to create separate entry forms for your applicants where they can share their chili recipes and pay the entry fee. Applicants should also supply their own cooking equipment and ingredients and be responsible for cleanup.

On the day of your event, be sure your volunteers all know their responsibilities when it comes to caring for guests and managing the chefs and judges. Be sure to have some great prizes ready for the winners and have fun!

3.     Cookbook Sale

Whether we’re talking pancakes, chili, potato salad, or a special drink, every foodie has their own special recipe. So, why not let them contribute these recipes to a cookbook you can then sell at special fundraising events? You can even print multiple cookbooks themed around different food items (drinks, sauces, desserts), meals (breakfasts, lunches, dinners), or holiday dishes (Christmas roasts, pies, Halloween treats). Whatever you decide, your cookbook can make a nice fundraising item to sell at special events, auctions, and other activities.

4.     Gourmet Hot Dog Concession

Hot dogs are a popular food item at all sorts of sporting events and fundraising activities — but if you have some foodies in your group, you can really go wild with your special hot dog variations. Offer seldom-seen options like the Hawaiian Hot Dog (with mango, pineapple, and avocado toppings), tortilla-wrapped “taquitos,” or some spicy jalapeno pretzel dogs. These food concessions can fit in with any of the foodie fundraising ideas here and make a cool addition to other fundraising events (particularly sports-themed fundraisers).

5.     Food Tasting Event

Food tasting events let you form partnerships (and gain new sponsors) by working with local restaurants eager to advertise their dishes by offering free samples at your fundraising event. You can charge an entry fee for your guests and organize the event itself in different ways. For instance, you might ask representatives from each restaurant to set up tables at your outdoor event and offer samples to any visitors. Alternatively, you might arrange for your guests to visit each restaurant in person and receive samples at each stop.

You can also work in other activities or events into this fundraiser. For example, you can hire a live band to provide music or offer cooking classes. Regardless of what you decide, be sure to provide plenty of opportunities to donate — via raffles, donation boxes, and/or QR donation codes.

6.     Wine Tasting

Wine tastings offer a chance to host a sophisticated fundraising event. You can partner with local wineries that can sponsor your event and donate a few bottles of their wines (letting them promote their brand). Sell tickets to your event (making sure all of your guests are of legal drinking age). Choose an attractive venue for your fundraiser that allows people to mingle — and don’t forget the hors d’oeuvres, bread, and cheese!

7.     Pie Auction

Who likes pie? Yep, us too. So, let’s turn this into a fundraising event by combining it with another time-tested activity — the live auction.

This works particularly well if you’re putting on a dinner fundraiser where guests have already bought tickets for their main course. Once dessert time comes around, a pie auction can be a fun way for folks to bid on an after-dinner treat.

Give your guests something fun to bid on. Offer some amazing, eye-catching pies baked by an expert that will excite foodies and encourage them to donate $20, $30, and more for their desserts.

8.     Sub Sandwich Sale

Here’s a great food activity that’ll go over big at any sport-themed fundraising events you choose to put on. Sub sandwiches are a delicious and shareable snack to offer your guests — and if you have any sandwich specialists in your team of foodies, you can make some truly spectacular creations. Just make sure to arrange to have enough ingredients to service the crowds you’re expecting, and you could be offering one of your best concession stands ever.

Given the universal appeal of food, events like cooking classes, bake-offs, or international food fairs can be very successful. These events can be expanded by featuring local celebrity chefs, offering cooking competitions, or integrating cultural education about the cuisines being featured.

Simple Fundraising Ideas for Arts and Crafts Lovers

1.     Paper Airplane Competition

This fundraising activity can work really well as part of a bigger fundraiser. A paper airplane competition simply requires you to sell sheets of paper to people who want to participate (sheets can go for $1 per sheet or even $5-$10 depending on your supporters’ income). You can also provide sheets that have been printed with a paper airplane template to guide contestants on how to fold a better airplane (you can even charge more for these sheets).

Once everyone has a chance to fold their airplanes, you can offer multiple competitions. For instance, you can have contestants throw their planes one by one and see which one can outdistance the other. You can also divide contestants into groups that compete with each other — with the winner of each group going on to compete against the other winners in the next round. Be sure to have some prizes on hand to award the top winners!

2.     Postcard Fundraiser

Many of the fundraising ideas on this list emphasize the use of social media and online resources to promote your fundraiser. But there’s still something to be said about direct mail fundraisers that take advantage of the effect receiving physical items has on your supporters.

And when that item happens to be a fundraising postcard, well… that’s just a natural fit for your arts and crafts enthusiasts. You can host a fundraising activity where guests get to help design the postcards your organization will then send to supporters to enlist their help. It’s a great way to keep everyone involved and a fantastic use of your team’s creativity.

Keep in mind that fundraising postcards can promote multiple messages, including:

• Giving a progress report of the impact your donors are making in the community
• Saying thank you for donating to your organization
• Offering reminders for upcoming activities and events
• Requesting contact info to update your mailing list
• Promoting end-of-year donations

3.     Clay Project Event

Clay project fundraising events can be a family friendly activity parents and kids enjoy participating in together. You can get a local ceramics studio or store to sponsor your event and sell tickets to build cups, bowls, sculptures, or other attractive projects, with all proceeds going to your nonprofit.

4.     Knitting and Crochet Activity

Any knitting or crocheting lovers in your group? A knitting/crochet craft event/class could go over really well, especially if you have patterns or instructors who can show your guests how to create toys, clothes, blankets, and teddy bears with enough yarn and some needles. Bonus: if you arrange to do this activity around the holidays, perhaps your guests will donate their creations to a related holiday sale.

5.     Wood Crafting

This activity is probably best left to experienced carvers, but if you know your support network is full of folks who love shop class, a wood crafting event can be a great place for people to hang out and carve or whittle toys, tools, furniture, and other attractive wood crafting items. Depending on how in-depth you want this activity to get, you might even consider including extra steps like staining your creations.  

6.     Jewelry Making

Making handcrafted jewelry is a popular craft project, and your nonprofit can offer both simple jewelry making activities or advanced courses depending on your participants’ skill level (and your budget).

You can partner with a craft store to supply attractive costume jewelry beads and stones, and then sell tickets for people who’d like to try their hand at making a simple necklace or bracelet. Or if you’d like to offer something more unique (and profitable), you can work with actual jewelry suppliers and provide actual silver and gold to make more professional items. Enlisting a professional jewelry maker to guide participants in their project can make this an activity to remember.  

7.     Digital Products

Not all craft projects need to involve paint or clay. If your audience is full of people who love being creative on a computer, creating digital products might be a more rewarding craft night. Craft projects might include e-card templates, videos, or even digital music compositions. You can even turn this into a competition (complete with an entry fee) — and the winner’s project can be used on your website or digital marketing efforts!

8.     Candle Making

Learning how to make candles can excite many people, especially around the holidays when scented candles become more popular. You’ll want to provide your participants with simple candle making kits that let them work with soy or beeswax and a limited selection of fragrances (if you want to create scented candles).

Have an expert on hand to guide everyone through the candle making process — and if you find some people in your class can create some true masterpieces, maybe they’ll be interested in donating their creations to your holiday fundraising sale!  

Art auctions, craft fairs, or DIY workshops engage the creative community. These can be expanded by incorporating art from diverse cultures or offering classes that teach unique crafting skills, perhaps even involving local artists and crafters as instructors.

FAQ: From Peer-to-Peer Fundraising to Silent Auction Fundraisers, What Tactics Work Best?

What is the best way to raise money fast?

Knowing what type of event appeals most to your donors and supporters plays a huge role in raising the fundraising potential of your event. While any of the nonprofit event fundraising ideas listed above can help raise revenue, it's vital that you tailor each idea to your audience's specific interests.

For example, silent auctions are an excellent way to raise money fast, especially if you make this a virtual fundraising event. People from across the country can engage in intense bidding wars that will raise funds for your cause. However, this bidding won't occur if you don't take the time to learn what items your audience really wants.

By knowing that your guests are into sports memorabilia, vacation packages, or self-care, you can procure the items they'll want to bid on -- and generate better buzz for your auction by promoting these prizes in the event promotion leading up to the event.

Likewise, being able to connect with a large audience of donors and supporters is also important to raise money during the event. This is why nonprofit fundraising event ideas like crowdfunding or peer-to-peer fundraising are so effective -- even if the individual donations aren't big, the number of potential donors still makes this one of the more powerful fundraising strategies.

What are the 5 stages of fundraising?

The five stages of fundraising -- also called the "donor cycle" -- outline how potential donors discover your organization and the opportunities you have to gain their support. The stages include identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

Identification is when you identify good prospective donors in your community to support your cause. This could be based on their values, socioeconomic status, location, and interests.

Qualification is when you choose which of your potential donors you want to focus most of your attention on. Qualified donors may include those who donate or volunteer frequently. They may also have a great deal of influence on other people in their community which can be helpful in recruiting more support for your charity.

Cultivation involves building relationships with your donors. This is when you'll want to invite donors to the type of fundraising event that will most appeal to them, like a virtual event for gamers, or just a one-on-one meeting with your team leader. This gives you a chance to learn more about your donors, like what programs they'd most like to support and any changes or improvements they'd like to see in your organization.

Solicitation is when you finally start asking your supporters for donations, volunteers, or sponsorships. By now, you should know how your donors prefer to be contacted and what types of donations they'll be most likely to give. Be clear and direct in your requests and make the donation process as simple as possible.

Stewardship helps turn one-time donors into recurring, loyal donors. Recognize supporters for their specific donations and keep them updated on how their support has impacted your community. Invite donors to play an active role in your fundraising efforts, like joining a peer-to-peer fundraiser to leverage their own social network for your cause.    

What are the 10 basic principles of fundraising?

Your fundraising success can be directly linked to how well you follow the ten basic principles of fundraising. These principles focus on making personal connections with your donors and getting them to be supportive of your cause. To do this:

• Get to know your donors before asking them for money. People are more likely to give to people they know.
• Offer special events, receptions, and other opportunities to meet the people in your organization. This is a great way to educate donors about your mission and establish personal connections.
• Consider your donors' needs. Businesses need recognition. Students can benefit from volunteer experience. See how your nonprofit creates opportunities that help your supporters as they help your programs.
• Focus on asking help for your organization's needs. Be honest and transparent about what you're raising money for. People will respect you for this and be proud of what they are funding.
• Be personal in your approach. Don't just send form emails to potential donors. Connect with your supporters through personal calls and handwritten thank-you letters.
• Start fundraising from within your team. Your board and volunteers should already be donating time and money before you approach people outside your group.
• Start with large donations. Give your fundraising efforts an immediate shot in the arm by asking your biggest contributors for donations first. Having a large financial gift creates momentum throughout the event as people want to add to the existing contributions.
• Emphasize your impact on the community. Supporters, families, and later generations can all benefit from your organization's efforts. Highlight this in your event as well as your promotional materials.
• Be realistic in your goals. Don't overreach in your fundraising. By setting an attainable goal, you'll make the event more of a success for your supporters and they'll be more likely to contribute when you host the event again.
• Recognize your volunteers and supporters. Your charity's success is supported by the people who donate their time, money, and resources to your cause. Make sure you show your appreciation as you'll need these people for your long-term success.

Maximize Your Fundraising Impact with Expert Partnerships

When planning your nonprofit's fundraising events, the choice of platform can significantly influence your success. PayBee stands as a robust solution, offering an all-in-one charity fundraising platform adept at facilitating live virtual and hybrid galas and events. Designed with ease of use at its core, PayBee ensures a smooth experience for both hosts and donors, making your event accessible to everyone.

Our partnership with Stripe, a premier payment platform, provides a reliable and secure method for processing donations online, offering a level of convenience similar to well-known services such as PayPal but with added features tailored specifically for non-profit organizations. This ensures a seamless and secure transaction process during live auctions, silent auctions, pledge drives, and any virtual event you host.

Since its inception in 2016, PayBee has been a trusted name in nonprofit fundraising and event management, delivering a suite of comprehensive solutions for all your fundraising needs. Our tools simplify the planning process and add sophistication with features like event ticketing, guest/table management, quick scan check-in, mobile bidding, smart bid paddles, and an efficient self-checkout system.

Furthermore, our collaboration with DonationMatch affirms our commitment to connecting non-profits with resources and opportunities that can amplify their fundraising efforts. PayBee's advanced virtual and hybrid event technology empowers organizations to host events remotely, thus reaching an unlimited audience of donors. The platform's user-friendly, one-screen interface caters to donors of all ages and technical abilities on various devices.

Nonprofits that have utilized PayBee for their events have not only succeeded in raising substantial funds but have also benefited from lowered overhead costs, all while providing a memorable and engaging fundraising experience for their donors. The success stories and positive feedback from various organizations attest to the transformative results achieved through PayBee's fundraising solutions.

What People Are Saying About PayBee

Hearing from those who have firsthand experience with our platform is the best way to understand the impact of PayBee on fundraising events. Here's what some of our users have to say:

"They were patient and explained the software well. After our event, we met again to debrief, and they were very eager to hear about our experience and consider what they could do even better." ~ Anonymous User

"From start to finish, the customer support made learning how best to use PayBee much easier than it would have been with a company with lesser service." ~ Anonymous User

"We had a terrific experience with Paybee and appreciated how simple and straightforward it was." ~ Anonymous User

"I know we were on the 'high maintenance' end of things as a client and that's because we wanted to ensure everything went perfectly -- AND IT DID -- thanks to [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and team." ~ Anonymous User

"Loved actually working with it all... And it all has been for an absolutely wonderful, beautiful, magical cause as well, too!!!!!!" – Katie Wray, April 8, 2023

"This makes donation very convenient!" – Marbella Dover

"PayBee has made it easier for me to donate at organizations I care about. I scanned the QR code, picked my option and I was done donating. The receipt came in a timely fashion." – A Google User

These testimonials reflect the user-friendly nature of PayBee, the dedication of our customer support team, and the effective and enjoyable experience of our platform. We are committed to continuously improving and providing the best service for all fundraising needs.

Getting Started

Whether you want to host a holiday luncheon or assemble a fun water balloon fight, one thing is clear — all of these fundraising events can benefit from easy-to-use fundraising software with promotional online tools. Most people do learn of fundraising events via their social media feeds or emails, after all, and most of these events can be adapted to reach out to a virtual or hybrid audience and expand your supporter network.

To learn more about how you can use online platforms to host successful fundraising events, sign up for a free demo of Paybee’s fundraising software. You’ll get to put yourselves in the shoes of your audience by seeing how user-friendly our online platforms are, participate in a fun live auction, and ask all of your questions to our staff of experts. Come see which of your fundraising events you can enhance by signing up for a free demo today!